Millions of pieces of PPE 'out of date' when coronavirus hit

Two hundred MILLION pieces of PPE in the UK’s stockpile were ‘out of date’ when coronavirus hit leaving up to 80% of supplies useless

• Some 200million pieces of PPE expired from national inventory before Jan 2020
• 80% of respirators in national inventory expired by time coronavirus hit in UK 
• Failure on part of Public Health England and Supply Chain Coordination Limited
• Here’s how to help people impacted by Covid-19

Millions of pieces of vital personal protective equipment in the UK’s national pandemic stockpile were out of date when the coronavirus hit, an investigation has revealed.

Some 200 million articles of PPE had all expired from the national inventory before January 2020, according to stock lists seen by a Channel 4 News investigation.  

The discovery suggests a failure on the part of Public Health England and NHS supply chain management firm, Supply Chain Coordination Limited.

The investigation comes as the UK records 207,973 confirmed cases of COVID-19, and 30,689 deaths – the second highest death toll in the world, behind the US.

The investigation found a significant number of the out-of-date respirators were stockpiled between 2009 and 2010, after another pandemic, and that they had had their use-by date extended, sometimes twice

Throughout 2019, hundreds of millions of PPE items reached their expiry date. 

The timing of public procurement contracts suggests attempts by Public Health England and Supply Chain Coordination Limited to renew them failed to stop a tide of expiration, arguably reducing the UK’s ability to react to coronavirus.

Detailed stock lists showing the state of the stockpile on January 30 show around 200 million respirators, face masks, medical syringes and needles were deemed out of date eight months prior.

It also showed 80% of respirators in the national inventory had expired by the time coronavirus hit in the UK.

That translates to 20.9 million respirators from a total of 26.3 million, according to the report.

The discovery suggests a failure on the part of Public Health England and NHS supply chain management firm, Supply Chain Coordination Limited

Official guidance states: ‘Most respirators have a limited shelf life, after which they are intended to be discarded. The longer a respirator is stored beyond its shelf life, or stored outside the recommended conditions, the less likely it is to perform at its full potential.’ 

The investigation found a significant number of the out-of-date respirators were stockpiled between 2009 and 2010, after another pandemic, and that they had had their use-by date extended, sometimes twice. 

Some had expiry dates of 2012, extended to 2016, and then extended again to 2019 or 2020. 

More than half of all surgical face masks had also expired. 

The investigation also showed the inventory did not contain any gowns, despite New and Emerging Respiratory Virus Threats Action Group (NERVTAG) recommendations

It found almost 20 million stockpiled respirators had expired between June 1 2019 and January 1 of this year, and could have been delayed from distribution until testing proved them.

More than 84 million face masks were also found to have gone out of date during the same period.

The investigation also showed the inventory did not contain any gowns, despite New and Emerging Respiratory Virus Threats Action Group (NERVTAG) recommendations.  

Public Health England told Channel 4 News all expired and re-labelled items distributed passed ‘stringent tests’ to ensure they ‘remain fit for consumption’. 

In totality, 45% of nearly 20,000 boxes containing PPE were found to have exceeded use-by dates. 

The national stockpile was formed in 2009 after an outbreak of Swine Flu, in which the government spent half a billion pounds amassing supplies

The findings suggest millions of pieces of PPE could have been stopped from being issued to UK care homes and hospitals, because expired stock is normally kept from being distributed.

The Channel 4 News investigation also revealed millions of out-of-date respirators were not cleared for release until they had been tested between March 10-19, at which point the UK was in the throes of a desperate lack of PPE. 

The national stockpile was formed in 2009 after an outbreak of Swine Flu, in which the government spent half a billion pounds amassing supplies. 

Evidence suggests the supply had diminished significantly over the last ten years.

Most of the stock under scrutiny was being stored at a distribution centre in Merseyside. 

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